Backup Generators glossary
Plain-English definitions of 0 backup generators terms you will see on quotes and inspection reports.
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Automatic transfer switch (ATS) - the device that senses an outage, disconnects your house from the grid, starts the generator and transfers the load, then reverses when utility power returns. Installation labor is around $1,200. Manual transfer switch - same isolation function, but you throw it by hand.
Running watts - the continuous power an appliance draws. Starting watts (surge) - the much larger brief draw a motor needs to spin up; central air can need roughly three times its running wattage. Sizing formula: total running watts plus the highest single starting wattage.
Backfeeding - electricity flowing from a generator back through your service into utility lines. It endangers utility workers and is the reason Ready.gov and every utility warn against plugging a generator into a wall outlet. Exercise cycle - the automatic weekly self-test a standby unit runs for several minutes to keep the battery charged.
SAIDI / SAIFI - EIA's reliability measures: SAIDI is the minutes per year the average customer is without power (662.6 in 2024 including major events), SAIFI is the number of interruptions (1.531 in 2024). Inverter generator - a portable that conditions its output for cleaner power, safer for electronics. kW - kilowatt; 1 kW is 1,000 watts, so a 22 kW generator is rated at 22,000 watts.
Three rules for every term
- Learn 'transfer switch' first It's the safety-critical component and the line item most often shuffled between quotes.
- Never let anyone blur running and starting watts A quote sized on running watts alone will trip out the first time the AC or well pump starts.
- Recognize 'backfeed' as a stop word Any proposal that involves energizing house wiring without a transfer switch ends the conversation.
A-Z backup generators dictionary
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Glossary terms for this industry are being written.
Where related figures come from
Sources last checked
- Bob Vila - Whole-House Generator Cost · retrieved 2026-07-26
- Bob Vila - How Big of a Generator Do I Need? · retrieved 2026-07-26
- Ready.gov - Power Outages: Generator Safety · retrieved 2026-07-26
- EIA - Reliability Metrics of U.S. Distribution System (Table 11.1) · retrieved 2026-07-26
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